This invention relates generally to a water recycle unit.
It has specific application to a household water recycle unit which can be used for recycling wash water for subsequent reuse as wash water or as plant water or the like.
In many areas of the country water is in short supply and must be conserved.
It is a primary object of the present invention to construct an inexpensive, efficient water recycle unit which permits water to be recycled indefinitely for certain operations, such as washing, so that the overall, total use of water in households, and in certain industries can be substantially reduced.
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention a water recycle unit for producing clear water output from grey water input comprises a container which has sufficient capacity to provide the time required for the grey water input to go through all of the physical changes needed to provide a clear water output.
These physical changes include the settling of heavy materials, such as sand and dirt, to a lower zone and the rising of lighter materials, such as oil and fibers, to an upper zone to leave a central zone of clear water between the lower and upper zones within the container.
The container is an enclosed container having top and bottom walls, side walls and two end walls and is preferably formed with a rectangular configuration. The preferred rectangular configuration provides simplicity of manufacture, particularly when the container is made of a preferred, molded, fiberglass material. The rectangular configuration also permits an increase in volumetric capacity by simply increasing either the length or width or highth, or any combination of these three dimensions, without changing the principle of operation of the water recycle unit.
The recycle unit includes an upper grey water input so that grey water flows into the interior of the container by gravity.
The container also includes an outlet opening or openings which are preferably located in a side wall of the container and which are disposed at a level which is normally above the upper side of the zone of clear water within the container.
A gate within the interior of the container includes a closed passageway for removing clear water from the central zone through the above mentioned outlet and in response to the inflow of additional grey water into the container through the grey water input. This gate has an inlet end for the above mentioned closed passageway. The inlet is located in the central zone of clear water, and the side walls of the enclosed passageway of the gate prevent grease or oil or hair or other materials suspended in said upper zone from getting into the clear water which flows through the inlet opening and through the internal passageway and out through the outlet at the other end of the enclosed passageway of the gate as the incoming grey water forces the clear water from the central zone up through the inlet opening of the gate.
The container also preferably includes one or more vertically extending interior partitions, although these partitions are not essential. Each of the partitions extends the entire vertical distance between the bottom wall and the top wall, and each partition has one end edge attached to one end wall of the container, but the other end edge of the partition is slightly spaced from the other end wall of the container.
If more than one interior partition is used, the adjacent partitions are staggered so that the inflowing grey water must flow down along one side of one partition and around the end of that partition and then back along the other side of the partition in a reverse direction of flow to the direction of flow on the first side of the partition. The flow must then again change direction as it flows around the edge of the second partition and then along the back face of that second partition. This provides a serpentine type of flow within the container which enhances the settling action. The partitions also reduce turbulence within the container which could otherwise be produced by the incoming grey water.
The internal partitions also have the benefit of increasing the structural rigidity to the container. This provides increased beam strength and shear strength for the container so that relatively large volumes of water can be contained within a relatively light weight container structure.
In most uses of the water recycle unit of the present invention it is desirable to provide some filtering of the clear water to provide for effective removal of chemicals, such as, for example, detergents, that might not be removed to a sufficient degree by the clearing action of the container itself.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention an additional, clear water collecting and filter box is built alongside of and integrally with the container. This box collects the clear water flowing out of the outlet openings of the container, preferably includes a fiberglass filter which the clearified water spills through before subsequent flow through a filter, such as, for example, a charcoal filter, located below the spillway.
The filter is preferably located in a lower part of the collector box so that the filtered water flows upward through the filter. The cleared and filtered water is then either permitted to flow by gravity out of an outlet opening of the collection box, and to a lower storage unit or units, or it is pumped out of the outlet opening to an upper storage unit or units by a pump which is operated by a sensor float to pump only when the cleared, filtered water reaches a certain level with respect to the outlet opening.
The divider wall between the water clearing container and the collector box, in combination with the inclined spillway, serves also to substantially eliminate pressure fluctuations produced by grey water flowing through the inlet from causing any fluctuations on the fluid flowing through the filter.
The entire water recycle unit, including the water clearing container and the collector - filter box is, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, made by a fiberglass molding process, which requires only two molds.
The rectangular shape of the water recycle unit permits the unit to be readily installed between the bottom of the floor joists and the ground of a house, or to be buried under a concrete slab, or the unit can be easily suspended underneath the floor joists by straps.
The rectangular configuration of the water recycle unit permits the unit to operate as a square pipe, and only four parts are required for the mold to put the square pipe together. All four parts are the exact same length except for the spillway. Because the unit functions as a pipe, the principle of operation is the same if the unit is twice as long or just half as long. The unit works exactly the same way, and an increase in volume can, therefore, be obtained just by increasing either the width or the highth or the length of the unit.
The water recycle unit has all of the piping and tubing built into it in the course of manufacture.
The unit is built as a beam (as noted above), and obtains additional shear and beam strength from the inner walls.
The water recycle unit of the present invention provides a number of important benefits.
It provides for reuse of water. The water can be reused time and time again in the case of a washing machine, and the water can be reused at least once if, for example, recycled wash water is reused for plant watering.
The water recycle unit can, as noted above, be used to store cleared and filtered water in overhead storage, and this overhead storage can itself be used for timed watering of plants or for other uses including recycling the water back into washing machines.
An important benefit of the present invention is that it cuts down the total use of water.
Another benefit of the present invention is that the unit is constructed so that it can be made quickly and inexpensively with fairly simple molds. This arises out of the fact that most all of the parts are made all in one length, that is, the unit is actually made like a pipe.
Water recycle apparatus and methods which incorporate the structure and techniques described above and which are effective to function as described above, constitute specific objects of this invention.
Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments of the present invention and the principles thereof and what are now considered to be the best modes contemplated for applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.